Design. Install. Maintain

"Our Service is Your Pride"

Earth gets its day in sun...

By JOSEPH GIDJUNIS - Courier-Post Staff - April 23, 2008

HADDONFIELD - Students transformed brick into water under the pink hue of sun-dipped Kwanzan cherry trees at Christ the King Regional School here Tuesday. First- and second-graders lined up as patiently as expected on a 70-degree morning where any other day, they could only yearn to touch the calming outdoor sanctuary.

In six hours, these students and their classmates from kindergarten through eighth grade, converted a brick patio into a 2,200-gallon ecosystem in honor of Earth Day.

The children eagerly waited to dump a pail of dusty stones or water at the pond's edge. But first came a lesson.

Jerry Lister, with Aqua Scapes of the Delaware Valley, quizzed them on their knowledge.

"What this pond is, is a living, breathing ecosystem in our environment," Lister told a group of second-graders incapable of sitting still.

"What day is today?"

"Earth Day," the kids answered.

"What's the purpose?" Lister asked.

"Earth," they shouted.

"What about the Earth?"

"Protect the Earth," they said in unison.

Building the pond was one of dozens of efforts in the tri-county area Tuesday for Earth Day.

At Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Moorestown, 16 students planted 25 perennials in a butterfly garden on Prospect Avenue.

In Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill, political leaders and NBC 10 chief meteorologist Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz discussed the "Green" movement and how to organize schools and neighborhoods to reduce their environmental footprint.

They also heard from Harry B. Kellman Academy sixth-grader Ayelet Arbely who started the school's recycling committee by setting up bins and taking recyclable materials to collection points.

State Senate Majority Leader Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, announced an agreement with Atlantic City Electric to distribute compact fluorescent light bulbs in Wenonah, South Harrison, Mantua, East Greenwich and Deptford. These bulbs produce more light, last longer and are more energy efficient than their incandescent counterparts.

Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt touted the township's new electronic waste and fluorescent bulb recycling site at the Department of Public Works building.

The first Earth Day was proposed in 1970 by former U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, D-Wis., who sponsored legislation marking April 22 a national day to celebrate the environment.

Back at Christ the King School, aquatic life has been the topic of second-grade teacher Toni Firlein's classes this week.

"We want to make a pond because it is Earth Day, and so all the birds and fish can live there," said second-grader Molly McAndrew.

"It's a day to stop and take care of the Earth," classmate Ben Sheridan said.

Sister Michele DeGregorio, the principal, said she's not sure how to top this effort next year.

"We've never done anything this huge," DeGregorio said. "What we'd like to do is create this (adjacent) space as a haven and keep it going."

Reach Joseph Gidjunis at (856) 486-2604 or jogidjunis@gannett.com